Bel Canto Ref 1000 vs. Spectron Musician III Mk 2

07-19-10: Mapman
I've never heard Spectron but the bass with BC ref1000mk2 is interesting. When I first heard them compared to my prior amp, a Musical Fidelity A3CR, I wondered where the bass was. It turned out it was there more than ever just so tight and controlled and 3 dimensional that it was disorienting at first.

I think this is an insightful observation Mapman. An amplifiers control (or lack of) over speakers will have a profound impact on observations concerning the bass. With my Eminent Tech Planars (about 83db sensitivity and impedance dip to 4 ohm) the Bel Canto Ref 1000 MKii monoblocs excelled, so for that matter did the Jeff Rowland Continuum C500.

ESL's however are even more demanding to drive as impedance can typically range from 1 ohm (or less) to 150 ohm (or above) depending on manufacturer and model.

Simon Thacher has dropped me a note saying he'd be prepared to give me a home trial which is very generous considering i live 20 hours flying time from the US. I'll try the Spectron with my ESL's, Ribbon Planars and Dynamic speakers (Raidho Acoustics) and observe what transpires.

Really appreciate the comments made to date. Keen to hear any other veiws on the BC Ref 1000 mk ii vs. Musician III mk 2.

07-18-10: Radicalsteve
Kiwi,

I owned the Spectrons (monoblocks with bybee and v-caps) with my CLX's. They were very nice with my ML ReQuests, but with the enormous resolving power of the CLX's I found the Spectrons were brittle, lacking in depth and sounding strained. With my dealer we did a side by side comparison with my Plinius SA-250 and frankly is was no contest, the Plinius won hands down, especially in weight, nuance and texture.

Thanks for your comments. System synergy is everything and your source and room interaction will further either add or substract from the experience. I do understand where you are coming from. I have heard the CLX with uber expensive Ayre Acoustics KX-R with MX-R monos and frankly hated the starkness of it all.

the more I read on this sting, the more I think you neeed Sanders Sound amps.

One of the more telling things about the bass with the BC ref100mk2s is that everything I play is cleaner and more defined and dynamic top to bottom than most anything else I have heard. Even modern loudness wars CDs that contain a lot of energy throughout and often a lot of deliberately muscled up bass are delivered again most tightly and articulately. These and large scale classical recordings that are also delivered best with some muscle combined with refinement are the kinds of recordings that I notice the biggest difference in. Nothing rattles the BC on either of my two pair of OHM speakers. Same true on my smaller monitors, however there more the size of the speaker becomes the bottleneck in regards to overall bass impact and effect. many recordings like these that just never sounded quite right before do now. And the more relaxed acoustic types of music as well as both male and female vocals are still spot on as well. Really hard to find fault.....

Hello Kiwi,
About an year and a half ago, I also posted the same question as you did (my speakers are WATT/Puppy 8 soon to be replaced by Sasha, most power hungry speakers in Wilson line).

The same Ajackson urged me not to buy Spectron, the same Radicalsteve complained on Spectron with his new speakers (Apogee Scintilla and not what he claims today - but who cares, importantly he complained and Plinius 250 he likes is good amp for these who don;t care about its weight and heat).

These boys scared me and I decided not to buy Spectron first without home audition.

To make it short, I tried and fall in love with Spectron stereo then bought another one to run in monoblocks then got all Spectron upgtrades then got Remote Sense cable and finally, Joule-Electra preamp - I cannot be more happy then now. Absoutely in audio heaven.

I looked for many amplifiers and I have tried Bel Canto Ref1000 Mk2. Its good amplifier, don;t want to say a bad word BUT BUT BUT Spectron is in different class whatsoever - its effortless presentation, its midrange etc. I am sucker for midrange and I used to tube amps (last McIntosh 2102) - Spectron is better, more REAL.

Now, as you said Spectron has policy of 30 days home trial so I would use this opportunity - it may be your last amp.